When Curt Schilling's political comments lost him Hall of Fame induction votes

Curt Schilling is one of the most controversial figures in the world of MLB. A very vocal conservative, he is considered a staunch far-right personality. He is also very outspoken on social media, and often targets players and other personalities in connection to his political affiliations.

As a player though, Curt Schilling was highly successful. He was part of three World Series-winning teams, winning in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and twice with the Boston Red Sox (in 2004 and 2007). Schilling is also a member of the 3,000 strikeout club and has the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio of any of its inactive members.

Due to his playing history, Schilling was considered to be one of the contenders for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But, year after year, he fell short of the 75% minimum required vote from the ballot. That was mostly because of his controversial statements.

Schilling's final chance was the 2022 Hall of Fame induction vote, as the player gets only 10 chances to secure the required votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He fell short again in 2022, securing only 58.6%.

The closest he came was in the year 2021 when he fell short by just 16 votes, securing 71.1% votes.

A constant debate has surrounded Schilling's HoF induction, with many questioning whether only his playing career should be considered. But instances of controversial remarks have left him in a bad light with the voters of the BBWAA.

"If the Hall of Fame really is an honor and not just an acknowledgment of baseball greatness, well, one thing I feel very sure about is that Curt Schilling doesn’t deserve it."

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Curt Schilling had asked BBWAA to remove him from 2022 balloting

Due to the cap of 10 nominations a player gets to be voted in for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Curt Schilling had asked the BBWAA to remove him from the 2022 balloting vote via a statement on his Facebook page.

However, the BBWAA rejected his request, and Schilling eventually fell short of the margin again and thus got disqualified for life.